Tradition

لَمْ يَخْلُقِ اللّهُ يَقِيناً لاشَكَّ فِيهِ أَشْبَهُ بِشَكٍّ لا يَقينَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ!

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is narrated to have said: “God has not created any certainty like death while (the people treat it) as if it were a doubt in which there was never any certainty.”1

Brief Commentary

This is a beautiful statement which mentions how unaware people are of the issue of death in spite of its certainty. If people have doubts in anything in their lives, the one thing which is one hundred percent certain is that our lives will end and everyone will leave this world. This is a certainty even for those who do not believe in any afterlife or religion. In spite of this, people live their lives as if death does not exist and they will live forever.

Since people live their lives in this way, they do not prepare themselves for what is to come and they fail to perform good deeds and acts of worship. They do not attempt to purify their souls and strengthen their faith. We should always keep death in clear view, and strive to purify our souls in order that when the end does arrive, we do not leave this world ashamed and embarrassed of what we have failed to accomplish and become.

• 1. Tuhaf al-’Uqul, p. 271, Man La Yahdhuruh Al-Faqih, vol. 1, p. 194, Al-Khisal, vol. 1, p.14.